5 Footballers Who Played for Both Klopp and Guardiola

Highlights

• Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are two of the greatest managers of all time.
• However, only a handful of players have had the honour of playing under both managers, despite both switching from Germany to England.
• The likes of Thiago and Robert Lewandowski have improved under both leaderships, as they gained an understanding of two of football’s masterminds.

The modern world of football has been treated to constant drama and chaos since the start of the 21st century. Yet, as managers have come and gone, very few have stayed at the top of the professional sport. Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have done that, cementing themselves as two of the greatest managers ever.

Guardiola can be found in the Manchester City dugout, having previously had spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Klopp is seen as the messiah of Liverpool. Despite the fact he is set to leave in the summer of 2024, he has transformed one of the biggest clubs in the world back to the top of the Premier League. His 2024 Carabao Cup final triumph against Chelsea epitomised that. He previously managed Borussia Dortmund.

Very few footballers have had the honour of playing under both managers. However, here at GIVEMESPORT, we have analysed five players who have done so, looking at how many matches they played, what trophies they won and what they said about the experience.

Mario Gotze

Mario Gotze was a player who symbolised the status of ‘injury prone’, even if he is also remembered for his winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final. However, he has also been fortunate enough to play under Klopp and Guardiola. Gotze first played under Klopp from 2009 to 2013. Klopp, who joined a year earlier and left two years later, helped Dortmund win the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal.

Under him, Gotze scored 31 goals and registered 45 assists in just 116 games. It was a remarkable goalscoring record, which saw him recognised as one of the best players in the world. Due to his fine form, he eventually moved to Bayern Munich in 2013, where he played under Guardiola. Gotze was one of Guardiola’s first signings in 2013, but he failed to make the same impact as he did at their rivals, partially due to injury. Alongside this, Gotze had a very different footballing experience in the south of Germany than he did at Dortmund with Klopp. Gotze told DAZN as part of the Being Mario Gotze documentary.

Pep Guardiola was technically one of the best coaches, [playing under him was a] tremendous enrichment. But I had the feeling that he thinks only on the pitch and leaves out the people and the outside. The empathy was not that big. It was not easy for me, just because I came from Kloppo, who was like a footballing father. Pep was the complete difference. A world-class coach needs empathy, every athlete is also human and you should combine both [tactics and empathy].

Xherdan Shaqiri

Xherdan Shaqiri was one of the most effective squad players during his time at Liverpool. He never set the world alight, but he could be relied upon in key moments off the bench. His spell at Liverpool came after a three-year stint at Bayern Munich from 2012 to 2015. Two of those years had Guardiola as manager, where the Swiss international won four trophies under his leadership. Despite earning a successful trophy cabinet, Shaqiri didn’t enjoy life under the Spaniard, even suggesting in 2016 that he preferred working under then-Stoke City boss Mark Hughes. Shaqiri told the Daily Mail in 2016 that he preferred life under Mark Hughes than with Guardiola, where he played under the Welsh tactician while he was at Stoke City.

He is a very good coach in terms of what happens on the pitch, but his communication was not so good with me. Guardiola doesn’t talk too much about this [leaving players out]. He doesn’t say to the players why. Of course, sometimes that’s difficult for a player, especially when you are working well and training well — and especially when he speaks around the media and says ‘He is good, he is good. He is the best player.’

Shaqiri preferred his spell under Klopp where he won four trophies alongside him, acting as a player that came off the bench in crucial moments. Eight goals and nine assists in 63 appearances isn’t remarkable, but it is effective.

Thiago Alcantara

Shaqiri wasn’t the only player to switch from Bayern Munich to Liverpool. A few years later, Spanish midfielder Thiago did the exact same. In 2020, after seven years and 15 trophies, Thiago joined Klopp at Liverpool. Before his spell on Merseyside, Thiago had the pleasure of playing under Guardiola at his boyhood club Barcelona and then for three years in Germany. He won 17 trophies with him as part of one of the greatest teams of all time in Spain. Unsurprisingly, Thiago loved working for him, as he explained to Goal in 2016.

All of you know how Pep Guardiola is as a manager. He is the best coach in history. I have shared great moments with him and bad moments but you know how somebody is in bad moments and he always was there.

The Spanish midfielder has been plagued by injury since moving to Liverpool — and we haven’t seen the true Thiago that we know exists since. Despite this, he has still won four trophies under the German, including the FA Cup in 2022.

Ilkay Gundogan

Ilkay Gundogan has been one of the best central midfielders in recent years. He provided Manchester City with composure, control and a goalscoring threat in the middle of the park, epitomised as he captained the club to the treble in 2023. He scored a stunning opening goal against Manchester United in the first minute of the 2023 FA Cup — and if that doesn’t show his world-class quality, nothing does. Under Guardiola, he played over 300 times with 100 goal contributions.

Gundogan revealed what it was like working for both Klopp and Guardiola – and loved working under Guardiola as he won almost every trophy possible, excluding the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Pep has such a big charisma that you automatically try your best when you’re out on the training field. When you’re not 100% he’s able to wake you up very quickly.

His spell at Man City came after he played for Klopp at Dortmund. He won three trophies under the German alongside reaching the 2013 Champions League final. Gundogan scored the equaliser that night to make it 1-1, but they ended up losing 2-1. His ability to perform in the middle of the park has been clear for over 10 years, although his spell with Guardiola was far more impressive than his spell under Klopp.

Robert Lewandowski

Finally, Robert Lewandowski is still one of the best strikers in the world. He’s currently playing for Barcelona, but his previous spells at Dortmund – under Klopp – and Bayern Munich – partially under Guardiola – were even more impressive. His first world-class spell came at Dortmund, where the Polish striker scored 102 goals in 186 appearances under the German manager. He won four trophies alongside him and helped the club reach the Champions League final. However, that wasn’t enough for Lewandowski.

In 2014, he joined Bayern Munich – a year after Guardiola – in search of more trophies. He only had two years under Guardiola before the Spaniard moved to Man City, yet he still scored 67 goals under him and won three trophies. They failed to win the ultimate goal – the Champions League – but Lewandowski helped Guardiola dominate the Bundesliga. It was clear Lewandowski loved working under him and, in 2019, he said to Bild:

In my opinion, Pep Guardiola makes almost every player better, so everyone can consider himself lucky to train under him.

Statistical data has been generated from TransferMarkt.